Chapter Nine - Reverberations - The Murder Of Little Mary Phagan, 1989 - Read By Vanessa Neubauer In 2015

This is the nineth installment in a 13-part series of audiobooks from the "The Murder of Little Mary Phagan" book by Mary Phagan-Kean. The vigilance committee stood guard at the tree from which Leo Frank was hung, expecting someone to cut it down. Two months after the lynching, the group climbed to the top of Stone Mountain outside Atlanta and burned a large cross. In 1915, William J. Simmons, an ex Methodist minister and member of at least eight fraternal orders, gathered 34 men, including members of the Knights of Mary Phagan and three former Ku Klux Klan members, and signed an application to the State of Georgia to charter the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. They formerly inaugurated the new Invisible Empire of the Ku Klux Klan, which added to its motto of "white supremacy", anti-Catholicism, and anti-Semitism.Show more

The original Ku Klux Klan, founded in 1867, was a secret society opposed to the reconstruction policies of the radical Republican Congress and aimed to reestablish white supremacy in the south. The empire began a campaign of terror against ex slaves and whites who involved themselves in black causes, using methods such as flogging, torture, and lynching. The Mary Phagan Leo Frank case was the spark that rekindled the Ku Klux Klan, but as whites regained control of state governments in the south, its power faded.

In the early 1920s, with the help of experienced promoters and fundraisers Edward Y. Clark and Elizabeth Tyler, the clan began exercising strong control over local politics throughout the south and spread rapidly into the north, especially Oregon, Oklahoma, Indiana, Maine, and Illinois. At one point, the Invisible Empire claimed a million members.

During the civil rights era, the Klan again raised its head and is recruiting members today. The formation of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith was established four weeks after Leo Frank's trial ended, and it vigorously opposed all lynchings. For further inquiries about the aftermath of the death sentence, and the formation of the Anti-Defamation League, listen to this chapter of the book till the end.

Seeking Justice for Little Mary Phagan
https://www.LittleMaryPhagan.com

Please purchase the book, 'The Murder of Little Mary Phagan by Mary Frances Phagan Kean' to learn more about the Leo Frank case.